Threshold dynamics for subdiffusive grain growth

Abstract

We propose a new fractional threshold-dynamics algorithm for subdiffusive interface motion and apply it to multiphase grain-growth simulations. The method combines the L1 discretization of the Caputo time derivative with a Helmholtz-resolvent thresholding step. At each time level, the L1 convolution produces a convex history average of the previously thresholded states; this history-dependent field is then propagated by a Helmholtz diffusion solve and projected back to pure phases by thresholding. For $α=1$, the method reduces to a Helmholtz-resolvent analogue of the Merriman-Bence-Osher scheme, whereas for $0<α<1$ it introduces a subdiffusive temporal memory. We establish a variational characterization, maximum and comparison principles, and stability for the continuous Helmholtz diffusion step. We also derive a memory-tail estimate and a finite-dimensional pinning criterion under an explicit resolvent-contraction hypothesis. The equal-tension multiphase scheme is implemented on periodic grids. The numerical experiments investigate the joint influence of the L1 history and the smoothing length. The fixed-step runs show faster coarsening for smaller fractional orders in the tested regime, while a comparison at fixed smoothing length examines the influence of the L1 history on successive updates.